Massachusetts family presses 9/11 case against airline

Saturday

Mar 28, 2009 at 12:01 AMMar 28, 2009 at 12:44 PM

An Ashland man whose 72-year-old mother was killed in the World Trade Center terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, is fighting for public access to nearly a million pages of confidential documents on 9/11 airline security.

David Riley

An Ashland man whose 72-year-old mother was killed in the World Trade Center terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, is fighting for public access to nearly a million pages of confidential documents on 9/11 airline security.

Paul Keating's family is one of only three who lost relatives in the attacks still suing airlines and their security contractors, accusing them of negligence.

The families argued this week for the release of depositions and documents in the case in federal court in New York. That evidence is confidential.

Keating, whose mother, Barbara, was killed on American Airlines Flight 11, said his family wants to find out and make public details of how 19 hijackers got past checkpoints and aboard four airplanes.

"We'd like to make sure it doesn't happen again," he said. "If all the evidence is covered up, how is that going to happen?"

Keating said he believes there is "massive" evidence of airline security failures. He said he cannot discuss specifics while the suit is pending.

"We just don't care about the money," Keating, 45, said. "We want a trial. We want the evidence."

The judge in the lawsuit did not rule on whether to make the documents public, according to Motley Rice, a law firm representing the three families. But the judge indicated he may deny the motion, partly because of the time it would take to review all the evidence and determine what should remain confidential, the law firm said in a written statement.

An attorney for the defendants said it would be unfair to make the evidence public before a trial, especially because much of it was turned over with the understanding it was confidential, according to wire reports.

The New York Times Co. and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press are backing the families' request.

Keating, who attended court this week, said he is disappointed the documents may remain confidential. Keeping up with the lawsuit as it moves slowly through the court process has been tedious and frustrating, he said.

"It's not difficult. It's painful, and there's a difference between the two," Keating said. "It's not difficult to do it if it means we're doing the right thing for the right reasons. It's painful because you constantly have to bring up the details of that day, over and over again."

Barbara Keating and her late husband, Bill, raised their five children in Framingham, near Framingham State College. She worked for what was then the South Middlesex Association for Retarded Citizens, Keating said, training people with disabilities to live and work independently.

She later became the first executive director of Big Brothers, Big Sisters of South Middlesex on Union Avenue in Framingham, Keating said. In her retirement, she lived on the Cape, but continued volunteer work, driving cancer patients to the hospital, he said.

"She was funny and tough," Keating said. "Very old school."

Barbara Keating ultimately moved to Palm Springs. In 2001, she visited grandchildren back in Massachusetts and was flying back to California on Sept. 11. Hijackers crashed her plane into the north tower of the World Trade Center.

"She had just stayed with us," Keating said.

His family opted at the time not to accept money from the taxpayer-funded Sept. 11 Victims Compensation Fund, which would have meant waiving the right to sue. While the fund made sense for many people, the public cannot learn from what exactly happened if no one sues, he said.

As part of buying an airline ticket, Keating said passengers entered a contract with the airlines to be delivered to a destination safely.

"They have to protect you against mechanical failure, terrorism and hijacking," he said. "To say that I believe our case is solid, from a negligence standpoint, in my opinion would be an understatement."

Keating said his family crossed paths with aviation attorney Mary Schiavo, former inspector general of the U.S. Transportation Department, who was looking to represent families of 9/11 airline passenger victims.

"She was convinced, based on her experience in the aviation industry, there was more than meets the eye," Keating said.

Schiavo later joined Motley Rice, known for its successful class-action suits against tobacco companies, among other things. Keating said the firm launched a unique investigation, focusing in more detail on airline security than any other.

The evidence, Keating said, "would literally make you sick."

More than 90 families initially sued, but the vast majority have since settled out of court. The other remaining plaintiffs are the families of Mark Bavis of West Newton, and flight attendant Sara Low. Keating's suit is filed in the name of his brother, Michael, of Worcester.

"We're here," Keating said. "We're going to stick it out."

MetroWest Daily News writer David Riley can be reached at 508-626-3919 or driley@cnc.com.

PDF: Read the Keating family's complaint

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